


Before the Sun's Rising

by Settiai



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Established Relationship, Holly Poly, Multi, One Shot, Post-Dragon Age: Origins, Pre-Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-11 13:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5628718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elissa Cousland planned on leaving for Amaranthine without any fanfare, slipping out before dawn. It didn't go as expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Sun's Rising

**Author's Note:**

  * For [360Killer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/360Killer/gifts).



If the Elissa Cousland from two years ago were to see her now, she wouldn't have recognized herself. She wasn't that girl any longer, and she hadn't been for a long time. For better or for worse.

Elissa let out a quiet sigh as she opened her eyes, not surprised to see that the light weight she had felt draped over her was one of Alistair's arms. She sat up carefully, slipping out from under Alistair's arm as slowly as she could so as to not wake him. He let out a quiet whimper and stirred slightly, and her breath caught in her chest for a moment. Then he stilled, his breathing evening out and the soft whistling snores that she found so endearing returning.

Resisting the urge to lean down and kiss him with everything that she had, Elissa slipped out from under the bed coverings. Not bothering to find her discarded robe from the night before, she made her way across the room in nothing but her skin. A few thin rays of pre-dawn light streamed in through the window, enough that she could see where she was going without having to light a candle.

A pitcher of water was waiting for her on the nightstand, a dwarven rune carefully etched into the side of it. She reached up to cover a yawn with her hand. Then she carefully activated the rune and waited for the telltale signs of steam rising from the pitcher so that she could pour some of the water into the small bowl she used for her morning ablutions.

"You are up early this morning, my Warden," a familiar voice said, the sound coming from directly behind her. There was no mistaking it for anything but a chastisement.

Elissa stilled. "Zevran," she said, keeping her voice low so as to not wake Alistair. "I thought you would have had already left to pester the kitchen staff by now."

Zevran chuckled, taking a few steps forward so that they were side-by-side rather than him standing behind her. He was wearing a light tunic rather than his usual leathers, although she was certain he had at least a half dozen knives hidden on his body and possibly even a few poisons. Even in the palace, it wasn't safe for him to have no means of protecting himself.

"It is early," Zevran agreed lightly, his tone of voice not matching the serious look in his eyes, "but it is not _that_ early." He paused for a moment. "I heard some rumors that made me think it would perhaps be wise to return upstairs. Was I wrong?"

Elissa let out the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, trying to ignore the voice in her head that was very loudly chastising her for being careless. "What type of rumors?" she asked, trying to keep her tone even. She'd made a few arrangements with some of the servants, to prepare her food for the trip, but she thought that she had made it clear that it was to be kept a secret. It seemed like she'd been mistaken.

He didn't reply, not that she had expected him to. Instead, he reached over and rested his hand gently on the side of her face, turning it slightly so that she didn't have a choice but to face him. He tilted his head, studying the expression she was wearing carefully.

Elissa didn't say a word. She didn't have to say anything. For all of his training, she had never had any trouble reading his face. She knew the moment that he found the answer he was looking for.

"You would truly leave without saying a word?" Zevran asked. His voice was noticeably blank, almost no inflection in it at all. It was a carefully crafted mask, and the fact that he had retreated behind it said more than any words.

There wasn't any reason to reply. They both knew the answer to his question. Biting her lip, Elissa turned her face away from him. She reached up to cross her arms in front of her bare chest, a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the temperature of the air running through her.

Then she realized that the room was too quiet. Her breath caught, and she shook with a shiver that she couldn't quite stop.

"Go ahead," she said tiredly, pointedly not turning around. "I'm sure you have just as much to say as Zevran does."

There was a long pause. Then two familiar arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a loose embrace. She stiffened for a moment, hesitating, before leaning back against Alistair's familiar chest.

"Why?" Alistair asked quietly.

Elissa closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to organize her thoughts. "I thought it would be easier if we didn't have any long goodbyes," she said, the words sounding hollow even to her own ears.

Zevran chuckled, but there wasn't a hint of amusement in it. It was too dark for that. "Is that so?" he asked. "Here I was assuming you were trying to avoid having anyone follow you."

Alistair's arms tightened around her, just a little.

Elissa sighed, opening her eyes and turning her head slightly. She wasn't surprised to see Zevran staring at her, a faintly accusing look on his face. "That too," she agreed reluctantly.

Alistair's voice was strained. "Elissa—"

"Fereldan needs its king now more than ever," she said firmly, cutting him off. "The Blight may be over, but that's only the beginning and you know it. You're needed here, in Denerim."

"And you're needed in Amaranthine," Alistair shot back, a little bitterly. "That doesn't explain why you're so set against Zevran coming with you."

She didn't say anything. She _couldn't_ say anything. The words caught in her throat, refusing to come out.

Zevran let out a huff of air, not quite a laugh but closer to it than the sound he had made earlier. "Some things do not change, I see," he said, shaking his head. A hint of something Elissa couldn't quite read flickered across his face.

Alistair shifted behind her. "Am I missing something?"

Zevran took a step forward and gave Elissa a quick kiss on the lips, there and gone before she could even react. Then he rested his hand on Elissa's shoulder for a moment so that he could lean upward and press a kiss against Alistair's jaw. Alistair shifted again, more out of surprise than anything else, but he didn't protest.

"She's worried about you," Zevran said, shaking his head ruefully as he pulled away. "Am I right? That is why you want me to stay here rather than following you."

Elissa took a deep breath, pulling out of Alistair's loose grip so that she could turn around and face both of them. Her gaze flicked up and down the length of Alistair's body for just a moment, not surprised to see that he had pulled on a pair of loose trousers before making his way over to them. Even after all this time, he wasn't comfortable with nudity—at least, not his own. 

"Partially," she agreed reluctantly.

Zevran stiffened slightly, a flicker of confusion in his eyes before he carefully schooled his face. It almost made her smile. Almost.

Alistair glanced between the two of them for a moment. "I don't think it's just me she's trying to protect," he said carefully.

Elissa rolled her eyes, letting out an aggravated huff as she pushed past both of them and headed back in the direction of the bed. She reached down and grabbed her discarded robe from the floor, slipping it on. It was clear that her plans to slip out unnoticed were in shambles, and she'd be damned if she stood around in nothing but her skin while having an argument on the matter. Not when she was the only one not wearing clothes, at least.

"You're mad at us," Alistair said from behind her, sounding confused. "Why are you mad at us?"

She ignored him, pushing past and heading back toward the still steaming pitcher of water that she'd forgotten about after Zevran's interruption. She poured some of it out into the bowl beside it before cupping some in her hands, splashing the water on her face a bit more haphazardly than she normally would.

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm, tight enough to make her stop but still loose enough that she could easily pull away if she wanted to do so.

"Neither of you is making this easy," Elissa said, not even glancing over to see which one of them it was who was holding her arm. "I don't want to leave, but I _have_ to. And I can't afford to be worrying about the two of you, not when—"

The grip on her arm tightened, just a little. Not enough to hurt, but it still made a point. "Elissa, stop," Alistair said. "Just, stop."

Most of the time, Elissa couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt whenever Alistair tried to be commanding, mostly because he truly was so bad at it. She'd known from the beginning that he didn't want to be king, but she'd forced him into it. For the sake of Fereldan, yes, but the point still stood.

Every now and then, though, she'd catch a glimpse of the Theirin line in him. This was one of those lines. She had no doubt that it was King Alistair Theirin speaking, not a former Templar or a Grey Warden or a bastard prince.

"I'm just trying to keep the two of you safe," she said, and she grimaced when her voice cracked slightly in the middle. "Is that so wrong of me?"

Alistair shifted, his arms wrapping around her in a tight hug before she had a chance to react. Still, it wasn't him that spoke.

"No," Zevran agreed. "I cannot speak for Alistair, but it is part of why I lo—" He stuttered, just for a moment, before continuing on as if nothing had happened. "—love you. That you can be such an idiot, I mean."

Elissa let out a huff that might have been a laugh under different circumstances. Alistair muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "not helping" under his breath, and in that instant he stopped being the king and was suddenly nothing more than the awkward young man she'd fallen in love with all those months ago. 

Zevran continued as if neither of them had made a sound. "It would have been preferable if you hadn't tried to go behind our backs, of course," he said pointedly.

Just like that, any hint of amusement Elissa might have felt disappeared, replaced by a sharp pang of guilt. "I know," she whispered, and it wasn't until the words left her mouth that she realized that they were true. Because she had, hadn't she? That was part of the reason she'd gone to so much trouble to avoid this conversation in the first place.

As if he could read her mind, Alistair unwrapped his arms from around her, although he didn't move his hand from her arm. "Come on," he said, pulling her gently in the direction of the bed.

Elissa hesitated slightly before letting him pull her forward. "I thought you wanted to talk," she said. "The last time I checked, our bed isn't all that conducive to conversation."

"The things you say!" Zevran said, coming forward to grab her free arm. "I've found that a good bed is very conducive to conversation." He winked at her. "Among other things. Do you still have that rope?"

Alistair stumbled, his face reddening a little.

Elissa smiled despite herself. Then it faded. "I really do have to leave today," she said. "I don't have time to—"

Zevran waved a hand, cutting her off. "Bah," he said. "As you said yourself, it is early. We have plenty of time to talk. As well as to _talk_ , if you catch my meaning."

If anything, Alistair's face grew even redder. "Zevran," he said, "I think that Grand Cleric herself would catch your meaning."

There was a part of Elissa that wanted to argue with them. That wanted to push them away and run, for their sakes as well as her own. And there was a part of her that wanted to cling to them even more tightly than she already was, refusing to let go. That wanted to ignore the building troubles in Amaranthine and pretend that nothing existed except for the three of them.

Elissa didn't listen to either of those voices in her head. Instead, she let Alistair and Zevran pull her in the direction of their bed, giving in to the temptation to share just one more moment of peace with them.

Then they would talk. They would probably argue. And, whether they liked it or not, she would leave.

Alone.

Because she would do anything to protect them, even if it meant leaving them behind for a time. No matter how much she might wish otherwise.

Still, it _was_ early. They had time to spare.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)


End file.
